Course info

This course will introduce students to writing at the college level by studying works of contemporary literature, focusing on Fiction, Poetry, and Non-Fiction. The course will be focused on interpretation of these texts, and the formulation of written arguments about particular elements of these texts.

What’s contemporary about contemporary literature? Well, since literature is an art that concerned with interiority, and with the individual’s struggle with forces in the larger world, it touches on issues which cut to the heart of our contemporary world, issues like morality, politics, terrorism, economic injustice and racism, and of course, the stupidly happy feeling of pure being that occasionally breaks through these complex forces.

Students in this course will learn to analyze and interpret contemporary literature, by producing argumentative essays. You will explore how to use writing to learn, to create, and to act, particularly in the college writing but also in the world outside the college. I hope this class will be challenging, fun and will in some way change how you look at (and act in) the world.